- Did Barry McElduff set out to mock the Kingsmills families?
I have from the start been convinced that Barry McElduff didn’t intend to inflict hurt on the victims by his antics. That’s because I’ve known the man for some time now and I’ve never heard him say or in any way indicate prejudice or dislike of people, either because of their religion or because of their political beliefs.
I’m also convinced he didn’t set out to mock the families with his antics, because why would he? Even if he had wished to mock them, you don’t think he’d have known what a political death-wish that would have been? Barry says he hasn’t a sectarian bone in his body. He also hasn’t a stupid bone in his body.
- Why was he never asked why he did what he did?
I’m not sure of the answer to that either. Maybe because it didn’t fit into the way the incident was framed from the start: stupid and vindictive Shinner allows mask to slip and mocks the dead. If he had been asked, it’s possible that the answer would have been as simple as “I didn’t read the label”. Or maybe not. But since none of our hack-pack, in print or on air, thought to ask him, we’ll probably never really know
- Should he have resigned?
I don’t think so. It certainly demonstrates the zero tolerance that Sinn Féin has for what even appears as sectarian, but I would put what I’m convinced was a PR blunder beside his attitude to his fellow-unionist politicians in West Tyrone (none of them asked what they thought either, to the best of my knowledge) over a twenty-year period. I can think of several mocking statements about victims – from Sammy Wilson, to take one example, who sneered at the ‘leprachaun language’, and referred to Alex Maskey, who still carries a bullet in his body from a loyalist attack, as “Old Lead Belly”. Last I checked, Sammy was sauntering on, politically intact.
- Was Arlene’s rapid appearance beside the Kingsmills families a bit of payback for the crocodile affair?
Maybe, maybe not. But it certainly showed a readiness to use the Kingsmill loaf to bludgeon McElduff and Sinn Féin. I suspect the only regret among DUP politicians like Arlene and Gregory Campbell is that there couldn’t have been immediate electoral consequences, as there were for Arlene and her crocodile remarks.
- Should Arlene have resigned, not just as First Minister, but as an MLA?
Before you dismiss the question, consider the comparison. McElduff walked briefly about with a loaf on his head and, I’m convinced, did so without thinking how it could be used by his political enemies (even the relatives of the victims got sick of their loved ones being used as a political football). Arlene, on the other hand, dismissed an entire political party and its supporters as reptiles who are dangerous and greedy, and who need to be met with constant Nos to keep them in line. That wasn’t an accidental statement – it was part of a speech.
So here’s the thing. Which is more culpable: walking about with a Kingsmill loaf on your head, or dismissing a major section of the population as greedy, dangerous animals?
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